When We Worship

 

 

Last week we discussed Why We Worship.

When we worship is just as important as Why we worship.

As much as there is a Why, there is a When.

 

Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

 

 

I like vs 4.  “…A time to Dance.”

 

To understand the Why is to understand our connection with the Plan Of God.

To understand the When is to understand God’s timing and connectedness with our lives.

 

When is important.

• Without When there is no distinct timing.
• Without When there is no slice of time that is given to the act of worship.

 

We live in a world of When’s.

• When we are born.
• When we die.
• When we build
• When we tear down

 

In creation, the bible says on the first day God created the Heavens and the Earth.

 

• It was a distinct moment in His plan.

 

• Then it goes on to say, “On the second day he created the Firmament and divided the waters.”

 

There was a timing of it all you see.

• One event did not happen until the other event happened.

 

In the second chapter of the book of Acts the scripture tells us that “When the day of Pentecost was fully come.” “There came a sound from Heaven.”

 

Understand there is a When in God’s timing.

• There is a When in His plan for our lives.
• There is a When to the incidents and even the tragedies that make up the events of our lives.

 

God did not plan these events to happen necessarily.

• They happened as the result of chance to a large degree.
• But they happened at a distinct moment and at a particular point of orientation in our life.
• There is a When to it all.

 

My question to us today is what will we do with our When?

 

• What will we do with the moment of interruption in our lives where we feel God’s presence or the unction of his Spirit in our lives?
• …That moment when God reaches out to us.
• Or that moment when we should be reaching out to Him.

 

When we worship is about timing.

• It’s about that critical moment of our lives where things could go this way or things could go that way.

 

• It’s the determined moment of distinct opportunity for a miraculous outcome.

 

It was a really bad situation.

• They were really sick.
• It didn’t look like the marriage was going to last.
• She was about to give up.
• They just lost their job.
• Their car just broke down.
• The rent was due.
• Doctors and Attorneys, and Marriage Counselors couldn’t help any more.
•  Who would have thought there was hope for the situation?
• Who would have thought it could turn out the way that it did, but someone went to Praising Him.
• Somebody found a When to Worship in the midst of his or her tragedy.

 

David at Ziklag

1 Samuel 30

King James Version (KJV)

30 And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;

2 And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.

3 So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.

4 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

5 And David’s two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

• See, David was a worshipper.
• He didn’t need a whole lot of prompting to get him to lift his hands or worship the Lord.
• The What in his life was not going to determine the When of his Worship to God.

 

• David was capable of slicing out a moment of his life regardless of his circumstances and creating a “When opportunity” for God’s timing in his Life.

 

He could have reacted the way most people would have.

• He could have forgotten God’s ability to help him and he could have just gone into battle by himself and without God.

 

• But he decided that it was better to go into this thing with praise to God on his lips than a curse for some Amalekites.

 

Understand, the timing of David’s praise meant everything at this moment of his life.

 

• He didn’t praise God after the battle.
• He didn’t even praise God before the battle.
• David’s When was right in the middle of the thing that was trying to destroy not only his family, but also even his own life.

 

We say, “Well, I’ll praise God later.”

“I’ll praise him when this thing is all over.”

“I’ll praise him after this storm of life has ended.”

 

Understand something.

• God inhabits the praises of His people.
• In other words, He shows up when we worship Him.

 

• It’s not, “Hey lookie there, God just showed up and then we all go to praising him.”

 

• It’s “Hey, we want God to show up, so we go to praising Him.

 

He inhabits the praises of His people!

 

• If you need Him to show up in your situation, go to praising him.

 

Paul and Silas in Acts 16

 

• They heal a young woman who is possessed with a demon.
• The people turn on them and falsely accuse them.
• Stripped of their clothes
• They are beaten severely
• They are cast into the inner part of the prison
• Their hands and feet are fastened with iron shackles and chains.

Acts 16:25 And at midnight (timing) Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.

27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.

28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.

29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,

30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

 

Understand it’s important that we comprehend the When of God’s timing in our lives.

 

It looked like this was a What situation for Paul and Silas.

 

• “Look What’s happened to us.”
• “Look What they have done!”
• “What did we do to deserve this?”

 

• Listen, it may look like a What situation to you and everyone around you, but it may very well be a When situation to God.

 

Our What or the condition of our situation is not what limits God…

• It’s our When and our connectedness to the timing of the miraculous in our lives that determines our situation.

 

Someone said, I’ll praise him when – I feel like it.

• Or When God does something for me.

 

Well, that’s great, you should praise him because he did something for you.

 

• But the When for me is not after He has done something.
• The When for me is before I even have a need!

 

I pay it forward.

• I pay it in advance.
• God’s credit is good for me.
• I don’t pay Him back after He blesses me,
• I pay Him forward before I even need a blessing.

 

Why do you go to church so much?

What are you doing over there every Sunday morning for an hour and a half?

 

• I’m paying it forward!
• I’m advancing Him my Worship.
• I’m forwarding Him my Praise!

 

It’s not just where you are at when you praise…

• And it’s not always the circumstances of your situation.
• But very often it is the opportunity for God to be glorified in the moment of your desperation.
• It’s the timing of your worship.

 

Why do you praise Him so much?

Because I want to be on que with the miraculous.

 

 

My wreck – praising God all the way to work…

All the way home from work…

On my way to pick up my last check…

Boom.

On my way home from a wreck…

 

It’s the when!

 

 

When to worship is to me as important as When to Breath.

 

My breathing comes naturally.  My body understands that it must breath to stay alive so the subconscious brain tells the lungs to expand and breath several times of every moment of ever day of my life.

 

It does not take a whole lot of conscious thinking for me to breath.

 

 

When to worship to me is something that should not take a whole lot of thinking either.

It should just happen naturally for the believer who has been redeemed by Jesus Christ.

 

Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

The When is defined here before the What is defined.

Seeing, It is but the third hour of the day.

 

It’s the When.